


Happy Birthday

by rusalka_dances_the_polka



Category: Trollhunters (Cartoon)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-05
Updated: 2018-10-05
Packaged: 2019-07-25 16:01:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16200875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rusalka_dances_the_polka/pseuds/rusalka_dances_the_polka
Summary: A few years down the road, Jim still doesn't care much for his birthday... but he can always count on his friends to change that





	Happy Birthday

He still didn't like his birthdays. Not merely because they reminded him of his father, now they also reminded him of the human life he'd lost.

  
Trolls didn't celebrate birthdays after all.

  
Not that he cared that much. He'd grown into his new life as he'd grown into his new body. It was difficult, but in the end he made it out alive and he could even call his life a happy one.   
Now. Mostly.

  
He knew by now that happiness was not a thing a trollhunter could keep for long.

  
When he'd accepted Merlins offer, he never would have been able to guess what awaited him... He had still been a teenager back then. Eternally idealistic, confident that he could endure whatever fate decided to throw at him.

  
It felt so impossibly long ago now, even though it had been only a few years. He was still a young man by human standards. He'd be in College, making plans for his future after graduation. The next deadlines for papers would be his biggest worry. He'd probably still live with his mom because it would be cheaper. Or maybe live on his own in some college dorm. But in any case he'd go to College parties, get drunk with Toby. They'd go on a road trip to Mexico for spring break... Just Toby, Claire and him.

  
He'd been bitter about his transformation at first, after he realized that his chances of killing Gunmar as a human had not been as slim as Merlin insisted. He had always known that he was stronger with his friends. He should have known better. But his desire to help and protect everyone had led him to be manipulated. Again. The bitterness made the dysphory he felt about his transformation even more difficult.

  
It had been the right decision though... As hard as it had been. As much as he had felt like he was stuck between worlds and still sometimes did. Too young for the responsibility he carried, too old for the newness of this unfamiliar body. Still... he had had the time to train and learn how to use it. Perfected his control. And that had been an important advantage in the fights that awaited him... conflicts the old man had not seen coming...

  
For now though, he was able to live a somewhat peaceful live. Sometimes when he had nothing else to do all day but train and set some gnomes straight he caught himself wishing for a bit more trouble, only to berate himself that he had been through enough trouble for a dozen lifetimes.

  
His friends and family were alive and safe and still with him. That was all he wanted. It was the best birthday gift he could wish for.

  
How he was still surprised, to stumble into a surprise birthday party was beyond him.

  
Probably Claires fault for doing an excellent job of distracing him with a date, while their friends prepared the party...

  
He had to admit it was nice though. Especially cause everyone was there... Steve and Eli, Claire's friends Mary and Darcy, the wagga whumps, the ex-changelings, his mom, Strickler and Toby. And somehow even Aja and Krel.

  
His mother had made a extraordinarily big cake, that tasted absolutely delicious to him (for whatever reason most of her cooking, though inedible for people and sometimes even for trolls, did somehow taste good to him now...). And then Claire told him it was time for his presents...

  
When his girlfriend brought up two packages, everyone seemed to wait for his reaction. The first was in a box and the other a package. He opened the box first and was surprised to find a helmet.  
A pretty cool looking, black motorcycle helmet with two figurative horns.

  
"It's a helmet" he stated a bit confusedly and looked at his girlfriend "A really nice helmet! Thank you! But... um." Jim chuckled a bit as he picked it up and looked inside before he continued "I'm not sure my head will fit in there to be honest. My horns are a bit bigger than... this..." He rubbed absentminded along the base of the decorative horns on the helmet and then heard Claire laugh.

  
"Oh it will fit, believe me." Her grin grew as Jim looked questioningly at her "I'm a witch in training, Jim... Guess what I did to that helmet?" His eyes grew wide, as it dawned on him... He grabbed the other package.

  
If she'd given him a helmet then...

  
He pulled out a leather jacket and pants and stood there flabbergasted, holding the jacket out in front of him, excitement spreading on his face. It was pitch black as well, with red seams that looked like the markings on his eclipse armour. When he glanced at Claire she motioned for him to try it on and when he did it fit perfectly.

  
"This is. So. Cool!" He exclaimed and hugged her, pecking her cheek repeatedly "Thank you!"

  
He spun them around in a circle before setting her down and she laughed. She patted his chest.

  
"Calm down troll boy, we both know you're excited for something else." Claire said with a knowing grin and Jim was about to make a suggestive comment when Toby spoke up: "Yeah Jimbo, time for the real deal my dude!"

  
Jim gave his girlfriend a wink and she nudged his arm before he turned his attention towards his best friend. He was jittery with excitement...

  
"Ladies and gentlemen! I present you - and especially you, my dearest trollturned friend- the ultimate birthday gift a grown man can be gifted with..." Toby exclaimed with grandiose movements, as Blinky pushed a big, bulky object in front of him. Hidden by a blanket.

  
Then Toby stepped beside him, put a hand on his arm and continued in a more serious tone.

  
"A few words before we blow your mind. You see when our dear trollhunters birthday came around I asked myself: Toby, what could you get the guy, that he doesn't have yet? As you all know, Jimbo here has a lot going for him! Awesome sword, awesome abs and an even more awesome girlfriend." he said with a smirk at Claire who winked back at him. Toby continued his speech "But you see: when one has a fearsome witch for a girlfriend, you have to really put some swag on, you know what I mean? Impressing a fabulous woman like Claire is not an easy task if you have a tendency for wussiness, like our dear half troll here." He shook Jim's arm, ignoring his indignant "Hey!" before he went on "So I asked myself: How can we dial up Jim's badassery about a thousand degrees? Ladies and gentlemen, I think I found the perfect answer for that! So with no further ado..." He stepped towards the hidden object and prepared to pull off the blanket.

  
Jim's expression had grown more excited with every word.

  
And fell the moment Toby pulled off the blanket.

  
He heard Claire snorting beside him and gave his best friend a dumbfounded look... the rest of the party guests were equally amused as his girlfriend, except for a few trolls who did not quite get it... a table with a weirdly arranged bunch of random stuff? Top hat, saw, a... bouquet? Was he supposed to eat that?

  
Toby grinned at him like a fox before putting on a fake innocent facade "What is it Jim? What's that look for? You're not excited about my super great gift? You know, you should really be more thankurghhh..."

  
He croaked when Jim grabbed him and squeezed, lightly pushing his fist against his best friends cheek. "You got me a magic kit you clown!" He laughed "You want to tell me how that's supposed to impress my 'super-awesome-witch-girlfriend'?"

  
"Chicks dig magic tricks Jimbo! Every noob knows that!" His words were strained as Jim squished his cheek, "Besides, you've got to keep up somehow dude! Or Claire will get bored of your shredded, blue butt..."

  
Said witch laughed out loud and said "Oh I'm not sure some semi-friendly magic competition is what our relationship needs, Toby. But thanks for the effort."

  
"Et tu, Claire? Why me, I think we'll have to keep our gift to ourselves Blinky. And here I haven't even had the chance to show him the greatest magic trick, ever!" Toby exclaimed, still stuck in Jim's arms, who now looked at the troll in question. So Blinky was in on this...?

  
Blinky shrugged and chuckled "Well, I guess we could return it and swap it for the 'food magic 5000' as you first suggested, Tobias." Then he threw the blanket over the table again.

  
Jim knew that they were playing him, so he let go of his best friend and crouched to get on eye level with him before he smiled "Awww, Tobes. Well, if you went through that much trouble for me, I don't want so spoil it! Come on, show me that great magic trick of yours!"

  
Toby pulled at his collar and nodded courtly "Glad to hear you've come to your senses!" He stepped towards the table and said "Claire, Merlin, you might want to take a few notes here..." Then he started to wave his hands over his head, babbling some magic gibberish words a la abra cadabra, causing the old wizard to roll his eyes.

  
Jim's excitement grew again and he smiled at Claire who'd taken his arm. He could see the excitement on her face as well. Of course this could still be another trick by his best friend...

  
But when Toby pulled off the blanket this time, Jim's knees almost buckled under the sudden feeling of euphoria.

  
He had anticipated something of the sort, but the actual sight was still breath taking.

  
Where the table loaded with junk had been, there now stood a motorcycle.

  
They had gotten him a Harley Davidson.

  
A black Road King Chopper... He couldn't hold back his tears now and almost hesitated to touch the black coat of shining, polishd varnish when he stepped towards the motorcycle. He was cry-laughing...

  
From his early childhood on he'd always been absolutely fascinated by two-wheelers and it never quite seemed to simply work out for him... He never would have dreamed that he'd be gifted a motorcycle - certainly not in his twenties!

  
His mom and he had an understanding that a Vespa was tolerable for her, once he'd leave for college. She was a doctor and knew exactly how dangerous the streets could be. And then the vespa that felt like an extension of himself, the first gift by Blinky, was destroyed for Toby's armour.

  
And now they had gotten him a motorcycle. An absolutely awesome, cool, black Harley.

  
"Still think I'm a clown, Jim?" Toby grinned at him "But just so you know, this was a team effort! I and Blinky got the bike together, after Claire gave us the neccessary intel."

  
Jim glanced at his girlfriend. Of course she was involved in this somehow. She hugged Jim around the middle, grinning up at him while he had his hand on his new motorcycles handlebars.  
"And I got you the perfect outfit! 100% UV safe and a magically adjusted helmet, with a UV resistant visor." she said.

  
"I can't believe it..." he said, still completely baffled.

  
He didn't like to think about it that way, but when Merlin destroyed his beloved Vespa, it was the first step of taking his humanity away from him...

  
He still remembered how Toby made his first ride on a vespa possible and how Blinky turned one of his worst birthdays into the best. It was the thing that had brought his and Blinkys relationship to a different level. He still remembered how Claire's arms had felt around his middle. How long he had fantasized about that...

  
Now his best friend and father figure had not only given him a thing he had dreamed of since he was a little boy, but they had given him back freedom. He could go where ever he wanted.

  
With Claire's help he could even dare to take a ride in daylight! It was not a priority at all, but it was possible and that possibility, that freedom felt like a piece of the humane normality he so often tried not to miss, but often failed to do.

  
He was truly touched.

  
"Jim?" His mother said to get his attention "this is not all, dear." She stepped forward and put another Gift into his hands. A thick envelope. When she nodded encouragingly at him, he ripped it open and found a map inside. A map of Mexico.

  
"When your friends planned that little surprise for you, they asked me if I was okay with it beforehand." She said laughingly and continued "Of course I said yes, I mean... stopping you from riding motorcycles would be pretty ridiculous considering your 'sacred obligations'. Sooo... Walter and I thought that this might be an excellent occasion for gifting you your first vaccation as a trollhunter. We already aranged a few nice little rentals for you to stay at for the first days, but you're free to choose where you want to go." She smiled at him when he gaped at her.

  
Trollhunters did not do vaccations. Off-days where not included in the job description and after a short consideration he looked questioningly towards Blinky.

  
"We already figured everything out, Jim. All trolls are informed to leave you alone for the next three weeks to come. You, Claire and Toby will be going on a roadtrip to Mexico!" Trollmarkets new leader said and patted him on the back.

  
It would not be exaggerated to say, that this was a complete overload to the boy who'd become a troll to safe his world. So far, this was the greatest gift he'd ever gotten in his life. One he would never have expected.

  
A trollhunter was meant to be self-sacrificing. But what his friends and family had given him today was not only a piece of freedom and humanity. It was something just for himself. Autonomy, that he had not expected to deserve as a trollhunter dedicated to serve troll- and humankind alike.

  
Was this what it felt like to be grown up? To be a man? He looked at Claire and the thought of spending several days with her, alone, far away from his duties sent warmth right down to his fingertips. Then he looked at Toby who had put on a helmet of his own, knocking his fist against it and grinning like a dolphin. Jim laughed happily.

  
In this moment it didn't matter what his future would look like. How much pain and disappointment waited for him. He figured out what birthdays where about...

  
The feeling of beeing loved and appreciated.

**Author's Note:**

> I really like the idea of Jim getting a motorcycle later in his life. That boy deserves it :)
> 
> As to how Blinky and Toby can afford a motorcycle: Trolls got gold and jewels lying around and Toby inherited a small fortune after all.


End file.
